


The Early Days

by tamibrandt



Series: Alice In Chains on Tour '93 [6]
Category: Alice in Chains
Genre: Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Layne Staley topping from the bottom, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:42:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27951761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamibrandt/pseuds/tamibrandt
Summary: The early days of AIC.
Relationships: Jerry Cantrell/Courtney Clarke (mentioned), Jerry Cantrell/Layne Staley, Layne Staley/Demri Perrott (mentioned)
Series: Alice In Chains on Tour '93 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1989022
Comments: 17
Kudos: 4





	The Early Days

**Author's Note:**

> I have re-written this a few times...I'm still iffy about it, so to JunsuChinCritic, I'm sorry if it's not what you hoped. We'll see how this goes over before I think about writing about the Facelift recording sessions.

Jerry met Mike Starr in a band called Gypsy Rose. They didn’t last a week or so before they were kicked out of that band and went their separate ways. Mike had been in different bands on and off since he was a kid. Some of those bands had included Sean Kinney. Jerry was bumming his way around Tacoma in different bands after his grandmother and mother had died within a year of each other. He had played out almost every venue in Tacoma with his band Diamond Lie and was looking to trade up to better prospects when he met Layne by happenstance in the summer of 1987.

Alice N’ Chains were a Seattle glam band so Layne was decked out with the big hair and could have given any famous hair metal rocker a run for their money in look and stage presence. Even at the age of eighteen Layne owned the stage. Layne used to be a drummer before he sold the family drumkit for a microphone and the equipment to go with it. He came home one day and announced to his family that he sold the drumkit for a microphone and was going to be a singer.

Jerry took one look at Layne Staley on stage while Alice N’ Chains were playing the Tacoma Little Theater and fell in love with Layne’s voice. When he heard Layne sing he knew automatically Layne was the guy he wanted to be in a band with.

Layne and Jerry met face-to-face at a house party and Layne had heard about Jerry’s situation of having no place to live and very little money left. So, Layne drunkenly suggested that this complete stranger come up to Ballard where Layne was working out of a fifty-room rehearsal hall called the Music Bank. Layne was also crashing there. Two days later, Jerry moved into the Music Bank. Layne had given him a place to live. He got Jerry a job at Music Bank working the shifts, basically letting bands into the rehearsal rooms. He gave Jerry money, guitars, and gear.

After the demise of Alice N’ Chains, Layne and another band member joined a friend, Ron Holt in his funk band. Jerry was looking to put a new band together and Layne remembered a chance meeting on Alki Beach with Sean Kinney. He still had the phone number to get a hold of Sean. Layne handed over the phone number and it had belonged to Sean’s girlfriend Melinda Starr. Jerry called Sean up. Sean showed up at Music Bank and they jammed together. Jerry mentioned needing a bass player and that he had worked with Mike Starr before.

“That’s weird because this is his sister,” Sean said as he pointed at Melinda. “I’ve been in bands with Mike on and off since we were eleven or twelve.” Sean called Mike, and within a day or two, he came to the Music Bank, borrowed some gear, and jammed with Sean and Jerry for the first time. Of the four founding members, Mike was the musician with the most experience having been in a lot of the battle of the bands contests around Seattle.

Of course, Layne would jam with them on occasion. Jerry and Layne had come to some sort of agreement where Jerry would play guitar in Layne’s band if Layne sang with Jerry, Mike, and Sean.

In a second or third rehearsal as a unit, the guys were jamming on _Hanky Panky_ by Tommy James and the Shondells when a local promoter was scouring the rooms looking for bands to be in a show he was putting together at Kane Hall.

“Hey, what’s the name of the band? Can you play?” the promoter asked.

They weren’t a complete unit yet, but they lied and said, “Yeah, totally.”

“Can you play a half hour, forty minutes tops?” the promoter asked.

They didn’t have any songs, but lied and said, “Sure, we have a bunch of songs.”

In the end, they got the gig after about a week or so of playing together. Jerry, Sean, and Mike liked Layne and wanted him to join full-time. However, Layne wasn’t ready to commit because he had the funk band with Ron Holt.

Layne and Jerry’s friendship was more solid by the end of 1987 when Layne invited Jerry to spend Christmas with his family. It was the first Christmas after Jerry’s mother and grandmother died. Layne approached his mom and stepdad about it, telling them about his friend who was “kind of homeless” and didn’t have a family.

According to Layne’s stepdad, Jim Elmer, they made sure Jerry had some gifts and clothes because he didn’t have a whole lot. They bought Jerry and Layne similar army coats and a couple of other things that were trendy at the time. It was the first time Layne’s family met Jerry. It was unclear if they were expecting an uncivilized hobo when Layne brought him home, but the family could tell that the two of them were buddies, and Jerry was very respectful – he was not loud or boisterous or too into himself. He was very pleasant and certainly liked – at the outset, he really enjoyed the hospitality Layne’s family offered to him and wasn’t rambunctious.

It was a toss-up which happened first, Ron Holt moving back to Los Angeles or Jerry, Mike, and Sean holding mock auditions in a reverse-psychology to get Layne in their band. They held the auditions in Layne’s practice room and Layne had to buzz these guys in and listen to their horrible singing through the wall. After the auditions, Jerry or Sean would come out and comment on the latest guy, saying, “He wasn’t too bad.”

The final straw came when they auditioned a redheaded stripper that Layne finally drew the line. “What the hell are you guys doing?”

“He wasn’t too bad. I kind of liked him,” Jerry commented with a straight face.

“Are you kidding me? He was worse than the other six guys you had in here. Okay, well, fuck that. I’m joining. Let’s just do this thing and I’ll quit the other band,” Layne said finally giving in. He didn’t see the triumphant smirk Jerry gave to Sean and Mike.

The few gigs they had done were under the name of Diamond Lie. Not long after they formed, they borrowed a van from another band rehearsing at the Music Bank to haul their instruments and gear to Issaquah, where they recorded a demo in an eight-track studio in a treehouse belonging to producer PC Ring. On it were early original compositions of _Bite the Bullet_ , a track that has been lost to history, _Chemical Addiction_ , _I Can’t Have You Blues_ , _Killing Yourself_ , _Fairy Tale Love Story_ , a cover of David Bowie’s _Suffragette City_ , Layne’s _Queen of the Rodeo_ , and _Whatcha Gonna Do_.

A month or so later, the band refined the songs and added new songs to the demo tape that now had twelve tracks recorded including _Suffragette_ _City_ , _Bleed the Freak_ , _Social Parasite_ , _We Die Young_ , _Chemical Addiction_ , _Sunshine_ , _King of the Kats_ , _Real Thing_ , _Killing Yourself_ , _Sea_ _of Sorrow_ , _I Can’t Remember_ , and _Queen of the Rodeo_.

Where the eight-track demo was nicknamed The Treehouse Tapes, the twelve-track demo was nicknamed, Sweet Alice. Diamond Lie played their first show at Kane Hall in January 1988. Their setlist consisted of _Social Parasite, I Can’t Have You Blues_ , _Killing Yourself_ , _King of the Kats_ , and _Some Girls_ , during which Jerry split his pants.

They played a cover of Hanoi Rocks’s _Taxi Driver_ , which Layne dedicated to Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley – the Hanoi Rocks drummer who was killed in a car accident in 1984. Vince Neil of Motley Crue was behind the wheel of the car. He and Razzle were best friends and were headed for a beer run while under the influence themselves. Vince Neil walked away from the crash. One of the occupants in the other car involved in the accident was put in traction and had to relearn to walk and talk again. Vince Neil served fifteen to eighteen days in jail, being released on $2,650.00 bail, two hundred hours of community service, and shelling out two and a half million dollars in restitution. The surviving members of Hanoi Rocks threw a fit when, years later in 2003, Motley Crue released a two-volume compilation set of their albums under the title: Music to Crash Your Car To.

Nick Pollock, a bandmate from Layne’s old band joined them on stage for _Queen of the Rodeo_. During _Suffragette_ _City_ , the band brought more than twenty people onto the small stage for the song. The idea to do the David Bowie cover came from the first incarnation of Diamond Lie. The band broke up before they could do it, so Alice In Chains as Diamond Lie did it.

Somehow a package of Diamond Lie’s band photo, bio, and a demo tape made it to the A&R guys at Columbia Records, but it wasn’t enough to garner attention. Sean’s girlfriend was friends with a guy who booked bands into small venues around Seattle. She gave him a cassette of music from Sean’s band. He played it for a friend who was an A&R guy from Atlantic Records. The Atlantic Records A&R department had already reached their quota of signed bands, so they refused.

By the time Melinda Starr’s friend met the band, Diamond Lie had been banned from several venues already, including the OK Hotel, Vogue, and the Grand Central Tavern. During a performance at a VFW, Layne threw a milkshake into the crowd, effectively blacklisting the band. Sean had allegedly punched the owner of another club. Melinda’s friend had to co-sign for the band to get the bans lifted and offered to manage the band until they were big enough to hand over to professional managers.

According to the pseudo-manager, it was _he_ who suggested the band change its name. Sean suggested _Fuck (the band)_ , but no venue would book them under that name. Jerry said he didn’t care about the Diamond Lie name. Someone suggested Alice _In_ Chains. Nick Pollock wasn’t too thrilled and thought the band should be named something else entirely, but ultimately both he and a former bandmate gave Layne permission to use the name.

While Layne’s old band had reserves about the name change but were okay with it, Jerry and Mike Starr’s old band Gypsy Rose were jealous of their former bandmates’ success. The way members of Gypsy Rose saw it: _How could two former members of our band do better than us?_

Other than being in a band that was making a name for itself, playing the Renton Musicians Hall and other venues in and around Seattle, the spring or summer of 1988 is when Layne met Demri Parrott. There were two stories of how Layne and Demri met. According to what her mother knew, the two met in 1989. But, it was in 1988 when Demri was working at the mall and a girl invited her to a party. On the way to the party, the girl acknowledged that she had made the biggest mistake of her life by bringing Demri to the party because Layne would fall in love with her. True enough, when Layne met Demri it was love at first sight.

The other story of how they met came from a friend of Layne’s who said that she was the one who introduced them. As far as _she_ knew, Demri knew of her friendship with Layne and asked to be introduced. Either way, he was always respectful to Demri’s mother and palled around with her brothers, even letting them come on stage when they showed up at concerts.

Kim Thayil of Soundgarden took credit for teaching Jerry the drop-D tuning trick that is prevalent in a lot of Alice In Chains songs. Jerry rejected that claim, saying he learned the drop-D tuning from Van Halen’s _Unchained_. When Diamond Lie’s former singer ran into Layne one day, he talked to him singer to singer about Jerry. The gist of the conversation was “Was it worth putting up with Jerry in order to have the writing and guitar?” Not knowing Layne’s humor, he took it seriously when Layne deadpanned, “We love the guy but at times he’s very difficult to deal with.”

On June 1, 1988, Iron Maiden and Guns N’ Roses were playing the Seattle Center Coliseum. Jerry attended the show and handed the demo tape for Alice In Chains to Axl Rose, who promptly tossed it without looking at it. That concert was where Jerry met his longtime girlfriend Courtney Clarke.

Near the end of the year, the band went into London Bridge Studios to make a twenty-four-track re-recording of The Treehouse Tapes and to record new material. This was the demo the band would shop around to the record labels. Melinda Starr’s A&R friend financed the sessions which took place over the course of one week and were produced by Rick and Raj Parashar.

The band went in at midnight when the recording studio wasn’t being used and worked until five or six in the morning recording the tracks that cost about seven thousand dollars. If they had done it during business hours, the demo would have cost twenty thousand dollars. Some of the songs included on the demo were _Suffragette_ _City_ , _Bleed the Freak_ , _Social Parasite_ , _We Die Young_ , _Chemical Addiction_ , _Sunshine_ , _King of the Kats_ , _Real Thing_ , _Killing Yourself_ , _Sea_ _of Sorrow_ , _I Can’t Remember_ , and _Queen of the Rodeo_.

At some point, the Music Bank got raided because the owners of the building that shared a wall with the Music Bank was growing marijuana and using the junction box on the Music Bank side of the wall. The band took a hint and moved out of there and into a house near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport that they rented from the boyfriend of Mike Starr’s mother. Though money and resources were scarce, somehow they managed to pay their rent.

The house had four bedrooms – three upstairs that were occupied by Layne, Mike, and Sean, and one downstairs that was occupied by Jerry to minimize any possible damage in case his waterbed sprung a leak. Layne cut a hole in the floor of his bedroom, which was directly above the recreation room where the band jammed, so he could hear the music from his room.

One of the many problems with the house was that one of the toilets had clogged the plumbing for the entire house. It took them a month to fix it themselves. The elderly couple next door allowed them to use their guest bathroom until the repairs were done. Mike’s mother would feed them on Sunday with enough food to last them to Wednesday and as far as groupies were concerned, they only chose girls who brought a food care package with them. On top of that, Layne had no problem attracting strippers.

On August 11, 1988, Alice in Chains was part of a four-band bill performing at the Kent Skate King – a local roller rink – organized by their pseudo-manager. Layne had shaped his hair into a Mohawk. One of the people there was a photographer and editor for KING-5, a Seattle affiliate of NBC News. She saw the show and offered to do a newsreel piece on the band.

The band never took anything seriously and played off each other. One guy would start saying something only to have another one finish the thought. Everyone except Layne was playing to the camera. Sean, Mike, and to a lesser extent Jerry had a consciousness that the cameras were around so they tried to make good TV. Layne didn’t give a fuck. He was all about the music and if they wanted to take his picture, fine. The piece aired on October 14, 1988.

One day, after the KING-5 news crew crashed their house, Layne was in his bedroom lazily stroking himself out of boredom while talking to Demri on the phone. Jerry chose that moment to walk in about to ask Layne a question when he was brought up short at the sight of his singer masturbating while on the phone.

“Hey, Demri, can I call you back?” Layne asked and then hung up. He quickly hid his dick under his shirt.

“What were you just doing?” Jerry asked with a smirk. They’d kept their secret trysts from the band and their girlfriends so far.

“Talking to Demri,” Layne said, trying to sound innocent and blushing guiltily. “There is absolutely no privacy in this house.”

“You don’t have to be embarrassed about jerking off, babe, all guys do it,” Jerry smiled. “Was Demri’s voice that hot on the phone?”

“Not really. I was just bored while talking,” Layne said.

“Well, take it out again. Show me how you jerk off,” Jerry said as he closed the bedroom door.

Jerry booked the shows and smooth-talked any disagreements with managers and owners. He had to step up in that area since their pseudo-manager took a vacation to prison. Somehow Ken Deans got Susan Silver interested in managing the band when his partnership with Kelly Curtis fell through.

Jerry may call the shots where business with the band was concerned, but Layne seemed to call the shots in the bedroom. Demri was already doing a number on Layne’s head and heart, stringing him along. Whenever they would leave town for a gig and come back, Layne would find that Demri had some other guy completely smitten with her. Jerry made a silent promise to Layne unbeknownst to the singer that he would never play Layne the way she continually did.

Layne yanked his boxers down below his balls, wrapped his hand around his dick, and stroked the length as Jerry watched. The smirk slowly left Layne’s face the longer he stroked. He shook his dick a little as he stroked. The singer looked up, watching Jerry get hard as he stroked. Jerry rubbed his dick through his jeans as he watched Layne. Layne’s eyes flicked between watching Jerry’s face and watching his hand rubbing the front of his jeans.

“Damn, Layne. Your dick’s so hard right now,” Jerry breathed out softly as he hypnotically watched Layne’s hand move up and down. “It’s making me hard. What if I joined you in bed and we jerked off together?”

“Okay,” Layne said, never stopping his motions.

Jerry climbed on the bed over him and pulled his own jeans down his thighs. He sat on the bed next to Layne and stroked his own dick while he and Layne exchanged glances at each other stroking their dicks. Jerry got on his knees between Layne’s legs and stroked his dick over Layne as the singer moved lower on the bed to lie against the pillow watching the guitarist as he stroked his own dick. Jerry was kneeling low enough on the bed so that Layne could tease the guitarist’s balls with his foot.

Jerry moved to lay over Layne, kissing the singer. He wrapped his hand around Layne’s dick and stroked the length as they shared kisses. Layne caressed a hand over Jerry’s back as their tongues met and teased each other while Jerry stroked his dick. Jerry’s caressed his free hand over Layne’s side as Layne buried his hand in Jerry’s long hair as his tongue mapped out the inside of Jerry’s mouth.

Layne rolled Jerry on his back and removed his shirt. Layne moved lower to kiss over Jerry’s stomach, down to the hard dick, and along the inside of Jerry’s thigh, near the sac. Jerry’s fingers combed through Layne’s long wavy hair. Layne pulled away long enough to pull Jerry’s jeans completely off and throw them on the floor. The singer returned to licking around the crown of Jerry’s dick. Jerry held the shaft upright, lazily stroking the top while Layne kissed along the length.

Layne stroked the base as he kissed the balls and then tickled the guitarist’s dick from base to tip, finally sucking down the length of the shaft and Jerry involuntarily thrust up into the heat of Layne’s mouth. Jerry allowed Layne to have his way for a few minutes before tugging on the singer. Layne sucked up off him and moved until their lips met in a kiss.

Jerry pushed Layne’s boxers down and Layne maneuvered them off. He straddled Jerry’s hips and ground their erections together. Jerry moaned into the kiss feeling Layne move against him. Layne sat up enough to position Jerry’s dick and slowly slide down the length. They both groaned as they watched each other. Layne slowly rocked and bounced on Jerry’s dick. Jerry could feel the inner muscles contract around his dick.

“Layne,” Jerry breathed just as Layne leaned down and kissed him.

Layne took whatever Jerry was willing to give. Jerry had a light hold on Layne’s hips to keep him steady, but otherwise let Layne move however he wished. The singer was becoming more confident in bed, topping from the bottom. Jerry didn’t know if it was because they experimented, going a little further each time or if his relationship with Demri was the cause of it. Whatever it was, it translated to a more confident Layne when they were on stage.

Jerry slid one hand off a hip and moved to wrap his fingers around Layne’s dick. He groaned when he felt the inner muscles squeeze around his own dick as he stroked Layne’s shaft. The singer moaned as he bucked into Jerry’s stroking hand.

“Fuck, Jer,” Layne moaned. “I’m so close.”

Jerry thrust up into Layne as fast as he could as Layne took over stroking his own dick. After a few minutes, Layne came, the inner muscles clamping around Jerry’s dick, his release painting white streaks over Jerry’s stomach and chest.

Layne carefully extracted himself from Jerry, lying next to him. Layne wrapped his hand around Jerry’s dick squeezed on the upstroke. They shared kisses until Jerry shifted to bury his face against Layne’s shoulder, moaning as the singer stroked him to orgasm.

“I’m about to cum,” Jerry announced softly.

“That’s the idea,” Layne smirked as he stroked faster.

Jerry’s hips bucked as he came, releasing between them. Layne laughed lightly and kissed Jerry before he let go of Jerry and rolled off the bed. He went to the bathroom and cleaned himself up before returning with a washcloth and cleaning cum off of Jerry’s stomach and chest. He disposed of the washcloth and lay on the bed next to Jerry.

Jerry overheard Nick Pollock and the guys talking about why their glam band had really split up when Jerry, Sean, and Mike were trying to get Layne in their band. They had split because as light as Layne’s drug use seemed to be for Jerry, they could see where things were going with Layne and didn’t want any part of it. Layne’s funk band with Ron Holt broke up after that because Ron Holt, who had divided his time between Seattle and Los Angeles didn’t come back one time and it just sort of fizzled out.

Whatever Layne’s drug use was, it didn’t hinder his singing ability. There were a few times when he had to go looking for Layne only to find the singer with his girlfriend Demri. But, when he did find Layne he wasn’t too high to perform. Jerry figured, to keep the voice he fell in love with, he could deal with Layne’s drug use. It was early in their career but hearing Layne’s voice next to him on stage was better than any aphrodisiac. As far as Jerry was concerned, there was no one better than Layne. He wasn’t sure about Sean and Mike and what they would risk to keep Layne in the band, but Jerry wouldn’t give up Layne for anything.

When Layne joined the band, he was too young to get into some of the places they played at. So, he would have to wait outside until showtime and then run in, play the set and run back outside again. That changed however in 1988 because Layne turned twenty-one on August 22.

His bandmates and the manager of the Music Bank, Dave Ballenger, took Layne out to a strip club to celebrate the occasion. On the milestone-nature of the age, specifically the ability to buy alcohol and go to strip clubs, Ballenger told him, “Now you get to legally do what you’ve been doing for years.”

Also at some point during this period, Ballenger recalled Layne and Jerry coming back to the Music Bank from a night out in Seattle with their first tattoos – skull-shaped designs on their left and right shoulders respectively.

Even though the band rented a house, they still had their room at the Music Bank and owed rent. Because Layne wasn’t working as many hours, Ballenger gave his job to somebody else. Ballenger didn’t think he’d ever be paid, because no money ever changed hands. To his surprise, Jerry came back one day with cash to pay the outstanding balance.

Thad Byrd was still working on his **_Father Rock_** movie when his producer Mike Bentley, heard _Sea of Sorrow_ playing on Seattle radio station KISW. He recorded it on cassette and told Byrd, “I heard Layne on the radio, and they have a song!”

Byrd was impressed. He was an ambitious twenty-one-year-old at the time. As implausible as it may sound, he had the idea to finance and shoot a music video for _Sea of Sorrow_ and then sell it to the record label Alice In Chains signed with, who would then get it played on MTV. Byrd went to the club where the band was performing and was reintroduced to Layne through Mike, where he pitched his idea of making a video.

Mike Starr was the most enthusiastic about the idea. Layne told Byrd he’d have to discuss it with their manager and gave him Susan Silver’s business card. After pitching the idea on a seven thousand dollar budget – because the crew would be working for free as a favor to Byrd, she handed him a demo tape and he set up a meeting with the band at their house.

When he arrived, Byrd noticed that planes were flying so low and making so much noise that when you were outside, you could hear only about half a conversation. Once inside, Byrd was shocked. The band lived in absolute poverty. They were a band dedicated to their music because most people Byrd knew – including himself – would not willingly live the way the guys in Alice In Chains did. Byrd was still living in his parents’ house for free which allowed him to play with his video equipment.

The band thought they would use _Killing Yourself_ as a first video, but Byrd said he liked _Sea_ _of Sorrow_ instead. Jerry was a little hesitant because he had a specific vision in mind for _Sea_ _of Sorrow_. In all the music videos Byrd had ever worked on, he’d never met a musician who was more specific than Jerry Cantrell.

Jerry wanted to make _Sea of Sorrow_ into a spaghetti western with the four band members riding into town during the musical intro, and then they were going to go into a saloon with a brothel upstairs, and they were going to romance the hookers. Then there was going to be a shoot-out in the saloon. The video would cut back and forth to live performance scenes, which would be filmed at the Redmond stage being used as a Queensryche rehearsal space at the time.

The idea was to shoot over the course of two days in Winthrop, Washington, a small town several hours from Seattle. It was going to be a big production with horses, a shoot-out, and the band riding off into the sunset. Jerry had very specific ideas of the visuals to sync up with the lyrics he had written. Byrd had the idea of making Mike Starr with his cowboy hat which had a clothespin in front of it to be the comedic relief. An idea which Mike embraced.

On one of the trips to the band house during the storyboarding process, which happened to coincide with Jerry’s birthday, Byrd brought the gift of Heineken beer. The band had been partying all night, but Layne was the first one up. Byrd and Layne went to a convenience store up the street. Layne was so broke he couldn’t afford a pack of cigarettes. He would scrounge up enough money for a cigarette at a time. Byrd felt so bad for him, he bought Layne several cigarettes. When they returned to the house, the other members were up and about.

Byrd’s recollection of the band was that every other word out of Jerry’s mouth was ‘fuck.’ “Yeah, man! We’re fucking happening! Fuck yeah! Fuck!” There was a disconnect between the band he heard on the radio and the quartet standing before him. To Byrd, they were immature and seemed so irresponsible.

So, they were late for meetings, and every other word was ‘fuck,’ and were obsessed with getting pussy and who they were fucking. To Byrd, they were a bunch of children. Of course, this was the thoughts of a guy who still lived with his parents where Layne and Jerry had been living a vagabond existence for most of their young adult lives. Living in the band house was the first time out of his parents’ house for Mike Starr. Sean had been homeless for a while before shacking up with Starr’s family and dating Melinda Starr.

On one of his scouting missions for where to shoot the _Sea of Sorrow_ video, Byrd took his mother’s car without asking and she got mad about it and told Byrd’s brother-in-law, Kevin. When he got back home, Kevin laid a guilt-trip on Byrd about taking advantage of his parents. The only reason he was able to do what he did was that he lived at home for free. Kevin thought Byrd was wasting his time with a band that may not get anywhere.

Byrd abandoned the project. He enlisted in the army. About a year later, his neighbor called him over. He had recorded a video from MTV: it was the first version of Alice In Chains _We Die Young_. Byrd was furious when he found out that Columbia Records had bought the video from the Art Institute of Seattle that somehow got released even though the band didn’t want it to be released. But, it was confirmation that his idea to shoot, produce, and sell a music video for _Sea of Sorrow_ would have worked. He didn’t forgive his brother-in-law for years.

According to the band’s official biography that was included with one of their demo tapes in the summer of 1989, they were trying to decide if they were the “Jay Leno of heavy metal” or the “all-male Partridge Family.” The same biography notes claimed that Alice In Chains is “currently the only unsigned band to receive regular airplay on KISW’s ‘New Music Hour.’” Their live credentials included opening for Bullet Boys, Tesla, and Great White.

According to Layne in an interview with _Guest List_ , he said, “Even before we got signed, we had a lot of big shows and some arena shows through a friend of our manager’s.” These early arena shows gave Layne a bit of stage fright. “I think the first time with Great White and Tesla, I was dry-heaving behind the bass cabinet. It was like halfway through the set until I actually realized where I was.”

One of their most important fans during 1989 was Don Ienner, who had recently been hired as president of Columbia Records. “I flipped out the first time I heard their demo tape,” he said. Timing was also a critical factor. The buzz around Alice In Chains happened when the label was trying to get a foothold in the hard rock/heavy metal market. “They came to us at a time when we were hungry for music,” Ienner told _Rolling Stone_.

Another crucial business ally at this early point in their career was Nick Terzo, a rep who had been involved in the band’s music publishing and who later joined Columbia’s A&R team. “Everybody thought I was getting the worst of the bunch. But to me, they were a diamond in the rough.”

It was a slow start on the business side. Ken Deans and Sean Kinney estimated that negotiations between the band and Columbia Records went on for about eight months by the time the deal was signed.

“We had good managers and great lawyers, and we were trying to retain things that you can’t usually keep when you’re a new band,” Sean explained.

“Like your publishing,” Jerry added.

While negotiations were going on, Jerry was still booking gigs for the band anywhere in Seattle and the surrounding cities and towns that would allow Alice In Chains to play a thirty-minute to an hour-long set. After all, they still had rent to pay for the house they lived in.

The band played The Vogue Theater in Seattle on Layne’s birthday – August 22, 1989. The setlist for that night was _Social Parasite_ , _Man in the Box_ (with a more bluesy intro than what appeared on Facelift), _Killing Yourself_ , _We Die Young_ , _Sunshine_ , _Real Thing_ , _Queen of the Rodeo_ , _Put You Down_ , _Sea_ _of Sorrow_ , _Bleed the Freak_ , _Love Hate Love_ , _I Can’t Have You Blues_ , and _Suffragette_ _City_.

Everything was going fine until near the end of _Queen of the Rodeo_ when the stage lights went out. Then Layne and Jerry decided to do an Abbott and Castello routine.

“Well, we fucked that up,” Layne laughed. “Eh, who needs lights? We look better in the dark anyways.”

“We don’t smell any better in the dark,” Jerry laughed as he strummed his guitar in the pitch black.

A minute later the stage lights came back on.

“Ahhhh!” Jerry sighed in relief.

“There we go,” Layne commented. “Much better. I have seen the light.” Then the band went into _Put You Down_.

After _Sea_ _of Sorrow_ , the band took a small break to light cigarettes. Layne had lost his shirt somewhere along the way. Jerry used a towel to wipe the sweat off his face. Jerry turned around and Layne’s attention was on Sean when Jerry reached over and tweaked one of Layne’s nipples in front of a packed club.

“Whooo hoo, Jerry!” someone in the audience yelled.

“He’s my favorite too,” Layne said into the mic, addressing the person.

After _Bleed the Freak_ , Layne addressed the audience, “This next one is brand new.” Then Jerry went into _Love Hate Love_.

After the song, Layne said, “Okay, I was asked to dedicate this song to someone in the audience. _I Can’t Have You Blues_.”

The stage lights turned down low and Sean came from behind the drumkit and all four guys mooned the audience real quick. They received catcalls.

Pulling his pants up, Jerry addressed the audience, “Do you guys want to hear another one?” The audience cheered as the members followed suit and went back to their positions. “All right. You all can sing along with this one.” The band went into _Suffragette_ _City_.

They had played _Love Hate Love_ another time after The Vogue Theater. Layne still wasn’t satisfied with it. In the Vogue, the stage monitors had an echo that actually pissed him off so he ended the song. In The OZ, he didn’t feel the _Love Hate Love_ screams were right and he ended it quick then too. He knew the song wasn’t sounding the way it should in his head.

“What’s on your mind?” Jerry asked in the dark. He’d been lying next to Layne hearing him try to get settled for the umpteenth time.

“How do you know I’m thinking anything?” Layne asked.

“Because I can hear the wheels turn in your brain from here. It’s starting to sound like a squeaky hamster wheel,” Jerry replied.

“I’m trying to work out how to make _Love Hate Love_ better,” Layne said.

“It’s a song about your relationship with Demri. How much darker can it get?” Jerry asked.

“Just some of the vocal parts feel wrong the times we’ve played it so far. I’ll figure it out,” Layne said.

“Well, you can’t do much about it right now so go to sleep,” Jerry grumbled.

“If you’re going to be this bossy, I’ll go sleep with Mike,” Layne teased.

“Screw Mike,” Jerry tossed out.

“I’ll tell him you suggested that,” Layne said acting like he was about to get up and leave.

Jerry rolled over and wrapped an arm around Layne’s shoulders and chest, pulling the singer back against his chest. “No!”

“Ack! Fuck, Jerry!” Layne yelped as he fell back. “Let me up!”

“You’re not going to sleep with Mike,” Jerry stated flatly.

“Fine, I’m not going to sleep with Mike. I need to pee though. So, unless you want me to piss in your waterbed, let me up,” Layne said.

“Fine,” Jerry pouted as he released Layne.

Layne got up, used the bathroom, washed his hands, and returned to bed. Just as he got settled, Jerry threw a leg over his legs. Layne sighed as he nuzzled into Jerry’s neck. “Really, Jer? I wasn’t serious.”

“Better not be, I’d hate to be charged with a murder,” Jerry deadpanned.

“We don’t have enough money to bail you out if you were,” Layne teased. “We barely have enough to pay the rent on this house.”

“Thanks, babe,” Jerry chuckled. 

According to Ken Deans, “The most significant and important part of the deal was that Alice In Chains kept their publishing.” In a typical deal, record companies would ask for fifty percent ownership in the songs. Under the terms of Alice In Chains’ deal, this meant that the band owned all the songs they had already written and would own all the material they would write in the future under the contract. Alice In Chains was probably one of the last bands to get signed that kept all their publishing.

After that, there were bidding wars to sign Mother Love Bone and Soundgarden and Screaming Trees, similar bands followed.

With the Alice In Chains deal, a lot of careers were made. Representing Alice In Chains in the negotiations was Michele Anthony, a partner at the entertainment law firm of Manatt, Phelps, Rothenberg, and Phillips. Anthony made such an impression that she was later hired as a senior vice-president at Sony Music. In this capacity, according to a 2005 press release, she “established and managed the company’s regional A&R offices in addition to overseeing special projects and new business opportunities. She was vital in negotiating and signing many of Sony Music’s most important artists and was also involved with talent development, soundtracks, new technologies, and myriad special projects.” Don Ienner liked her immediately.

Nick Terzo also jumped on the Alice In Chains bandwagon. He joined the label as Alice In Chains A&R representative. After months of negotiations, Alice In Chains signed with Columbia Records on September 11, 1989. With the deal signed, it was time to make a record.

Dave Jerden was a veteran producer with extensive credits who in 1989 was most known for his work on Jane’s Addiction’s Nothing’s Shocking album. In the late summer or early fall of that year, he got a copy of the Alice In Chains demo from Nick Terzo who had sent it to other major producers.

Everybody had passed on it because, in 1989, Guns N’ Roses ruled the airwaves. Every producer was looking for singers with that high voice like Ronnie James Dio. But Jerden grew up as a product of the late sixties and seventies. He liked deep voices, bluesy voices and when he heard Alice In Chains’ demo it blew him away.

The general reaction to Alice In Chains in Los Angeles at the time was confusion, for lack of any point of reference. There was a lot of head-scratching going on with the band when they were first doing it, but it was something Jerden and Jerden’s engineer Ronnie Champagne had already heard in their heads. The band was definitely going somewhere because it reminded them of old-school Black Sabbath with new-kid mentality.

A meeting between Jerden and the band was arranged in Los Angeles. The band was performing at a club where four people were in the audience: Jerden, his manager, producer Rick Rubin, and one guy dancing in the middle of the floor like he was high as a kite. Rick Rubin actually walked out after a few songs, leaving Jerden, Jerden’s manager, and the guy who was dancing to watch the rest of the show. When they met, Jerden and Jerry hit it off immediately.

“What you’re doing is what Tony Iommi was doing in Black Sabbath,” Dave said.

“Yeah!” Jerry said, happy that someone outside their tight little unit got what he was about.

After that, Jerden was in. it was Jerry’s call about who was going to produce the album. Terzo told Jerden the plan was to have them write more songs. The band returned to Seattle and cut two demos with refined songs at London Bridge Studios with Rick Parashar. A dozen songs from those demos became the basis for the material on Facelift.


End file.
